Life lately has been all about appreciating little moments of solitude and one-on-one time with Logan. We've been relishing Sundays spent at home together, soaking in each others imaginations and shared distractions (Sherlock has us in its grips, currently). There's a lot of kitchen experimentation happening. Logan has been really on top of testing our bean-to-bar chocolate recipes -- every nuance tweaked and adjusted, notes jotted in acute handwriting in his black moleskin notebook. Roasting, shelling by hand, slowly grinding the cacao -- our minutes melt into afternoons long and lazy, the sound of our grinder whirring loudly, our house smelling of brownies. There's always chocolate under our nails.

I need these days like I need water.

We rarely get these times together. We're both so busy with our day jobs, our many projects, or hours spent with friends. I find we have to have time completely to ourselves to rejuvinate and connect, to hash out our bottled up ideas, schemes, thoughts.

So, when I'm busy with something along the lines of baking cupcakes for a friends special event, I whip out a treat for the two of us as I go. It gives us a moment to share, to feel special amidst the chaos of going going going. These muffins are based on a recipe for Red Velvet cupcakes I originally adapted as cocoa almond spelt  cupcakes for a book release party. They're sort-of-dessert, sort-of-breakfast, definitely sweet and creamy with a lovely crumb.

Banana Chocolate Chip Einkorn Muffins

Author: Renee Shuman (Will Frolic for Food) - Prep time: 5 mins - Cook time: 25 mins - Total time: 30 mins - Serves: 1 dozen

Notes: Einkorn wheat flour, an ancient grain some wheat sensitive folks find tolerable, has a soft, lemony, nutty flavor; which makes it perfect for simple pastries, like muffins! Banana, chocolate chips, and cacao nibs come together to make these wholesome muffins taste classic. These can also be made with spelt as a substitution for einkorn. To make these vegan, sub 1 chia egg (1 tsp chia + 3 tsp water) for the chicken egg.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup + 3 tbsp einkorn or spelt flour

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/4 tsp baking soda

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/2 cup veggie oil (melted coconut oil and olive oil both work)

• 1 medium banana, mashed

• 1/2 cup almond milk

• 1 medium egg

• 1/2 tsp vinegar (I used a wine vinegar I had lying around)

• 1/2 tsp almond extract

• 1/4 cup chocolate chips (or more if you prefer)

• Handful cacao nibs

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners, or lightly oil your muffin tin.

3. Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt in a medium-large bowl.

4. In a seperate bowl, mix together the veg oil, banana, milk, egg, vinegar, and almond extract.

5. Fold wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until well combined.

6. Spoon mixture into each liner, filling about halfway.

7. Bake on the center rack for 25 minutes -- rotating half-way through -- or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. The finished muffins will be golden brown on top.

8. Let cool 5 minutes. Enjoy!

xo, Renee